Frequently-asked-questions-about-plastic-surgery

Frequently Asked Questions About Plastic Surgery

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This guide answers the questions most commonly raise before a consultation. Where a topic warrants more detail than a short answer allows, we have linked to the relevant in-depth guide. For procedure-specific questions, the individual service pages have full breakdowns.


Choosing a surgeon and a clinic


"Plastic surgeon" is a protected title in UK clinical context — it indicates a doctor on the GMC Specialist Register for Plastic Surgery, who has completed the full reconstructive and aesthetic training pathway and holds FRCS (Plast) or . "Cosmetic surgeon" is not a protected title — any UK doctor can use it, of their specialist training. Full discussion in .


Check three things: GMC Specialist Register for Plastic Surgery entry (free search at gmc-uk.org), FRCS (Plast) qualification, and full membership of BAAPS or BAPRAS. All three are verifiable through public registers, free of charge.


The Care Quality Commission inspects UK private healthcare providers against five domains — safe, effective, caring, responsive, and — and publishes inspection . "Good" or "Outstanding" ratings indicate the has met defined standards in those areas. Full discussion in .


Materially riskier than surgery in a CQC-regulated UK setting, for structural reasons that include surgeon verification, facility inspection, indemnity, fly-home VTE risk, and access to follow-up care. UK Foreign Office data records 28 British deaths from cosmetic surgery in Turkey alone between 2019 and mid-2024. Full discussion in .


Suitability and eligibility


Suitability depends on the procedure, your overall health, your BMI, your smoking status, your medical history, your mental health, and your motivations and expectations. The initial enquiry call with our patient establishes a preliminary view; the in-person consultation with the operating surgeon makes the final assessment. See .


Under 30 for most body procedures, with some flexibility up to 32 for facial work and post-bariatric body contouring. The threshold reflects evidence linking elevated BMI to higher rates of surgical infection, venous thromboembolism, wound healing problems, and anaesthetic complications. Full breakdown in .


Most cosmetic procedures require patients to be 18 or over. There is no fixed upper age limit — suitability is assessed on health rather than chronological age. Healthy patients in their seventies regularly undergo facial rejuvenation and selected body procedures.


If you are above the BMI threshold for your chosen procedure, yes. If you are within threshold but not at stable target weight, weight loss before surgery generally produces better aesthetic results and lower rates. Rapid weight loss in the immediate weeks before surgery is not recommended — it depletes protein and micronutrient stores. See .


Yes. Centre for Surgery requires complete cessation of smoking, vaping, and all nicotine products for at least six weeks before surgery and six weeks after. Nicotine constricts blood vessels and substantially impairs wound healing, with documented increases in skin necrosis, wound dehiscence, and infection. This is a non-negotiable requirement for surgery to proceed.


The consultation process


Four stages: initial enquiry, telephone screening with a patient coordinator, in-person consultation with the operating surgeon, and a two-week cooling-off period before surgery is booked. Full breakdown in .


£100 for a primary consultation, £250 for a revision consultation (where you are seeking correction of surgery performed elsewhere). The consultation fee covers any necessary follow-up consultations for the same procedure.


Yes, by video. A virtual consultation can assess broad suitability and answer most questions, but does not replace the in-person physical examination required before any surgery is booked. Patients living outside London often start with a virtual consultation before travelling in.


The most consequential questions cover GMC Specialist Register status, procedure-specific volume, who performs the surgery, the plan, the facility’s CQC rating, and the revision policy. Full list in .


The procedure itself


Most Centre for Surgery procedures are performed under total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA), a controlled general anaesthetic with rapid recovery profile. A consultant anaesthetist is present throughout, with full monitoring including ECG, pulse oximetry, blood pressure, and capnography. Some procedures — labiaplasty, otoplasty in adults, smaller blepharoplasty cases — can be performed under local anaesthetic. See .


UK consultant-led surgery performed in CQC-regulated facilities is very safe in absolute terms, with mortality from elective cosmetic surgery in fit patients well under 1 in 100,000 for most procedures. Specific complication rates vary by procedure and are discussed in detail at consultation. The factors that materially affect safety are surgeon qualifications, facility standards, anaesthetic provision, and patient selection.


Most procedures at Centre for Surgery are day cases — admitted in the morning, discharged the same day. Some larger procedures (abdominoplasty, large mummy makeover, some combined cases) require one or two nights of in-clinic stay. This is confirmed at consultation.


Varies by procedure. Blepharoplasty 1 to 2 hours. Breast augmentation 1.5 to 2 hours. Rhinoplasty 2 to 3 hours. Liposuction 1 to 4 hours depending on areas. 3 to 4 hours. 3 to 5 hours. Mummy makeover 4 to 6 hours.


Recovery


Time off work ranges from 5 to 7 days for blepharoplasty or liposuction, to 2 to 3 weeks for abdominoplasty or mummy makeover. Full exercise is 6 to 8 weeks. Final result takes 6 to 12 months as residual resolves and scars mature. Procedure-by-procedure breakdown in .


Stop smoking and vaping six weeks before. Stop relevant blood-thinning medications on medical advice. Arrange an adult to accompany you home and stay 24 hours. Book time off work. Arrange childcare. Set up your home for low-effort recovery. Full checklist in .


Any surgical incision leaves a scar. The realistic standard is well-placed scars that fade significantly over 12 to 18 months and are positioned where clothing or skin folds them. Rhinoplasty and blepharoplasty scars are typically hidden inside the nostril or in the natural eyelid crease. Abdominoplasty leaves a long but low scar below the Bikini - flexpeptides.co.uk - line. See .


Position depends on . Propped at 30 degrees for facelift, blepharoplasty, and upper body surgery. On your back with knees elevated for abdominoplasty. On your front or sides only for BBL. See .


Light walking from day 3 to 4 for most procedures. Stationary cycling and gentle activity from week 2 to 3. Full gym, contact sport, and heavy lifting from 6 to 8 weeks for most procedures, longer for abdominoplasty. Always check with your surgeon at the 6-week review before resuming intense activity.


Short domestic travel after the one-week follow-up for most procedures. flights after two to four weeks depending on procedure, because of cabin pressure and VTE risk. BBL patients should not fly within at least two weeks economy seating is incompatible with positional restrictions.


Cost and finance


Centre for Surgery guide prices on each service page. Indicative ranges: blepharoplasty £2,000 to £5,000; £6,500 to £9,000; breast augmentation £6,000 to £8,500; abdominoplasty £8,000 to £12,000; mummy makeover £12,000 to £18,000; facelift £9,000 to £15,000 depending on technique. Full pricing breakdown at .


Surgeon’s fee, anaesthetist’s fee, facility fee, implants or specific consumables where applicable, pre-operative assessment, the day of surgery, and all routine follow-up appointments through the 12-month review. Anything additional is in advance — there are no hidden costs.


Yes. , our FCA-regulated partner, offers 0% APR over up to 12 months on most procedures, subject to standard credit checks. Longer payment terms with interest are also . Full explanation in .


Almost all purely aesthetic surgery is . The NHS funds reconstructive procedures (after trauma, cancer, congenital conditions) and a narrow set of functional procedures (some breast reductions, some rhinoplasty with breathing problems, some blepharoplasty with significant visual field obstruction) where strict clinical criteria are met. Aesthetic motivation does not qualify.


Psychological and motivational


The patients who do best are those pursuing surgery for themselves, with specific, anatomy-focused goals, in a stable point in their lives. The patients who do worst are those expecting surgery to resolve a difficult relationship, career problem, mood disorder, or a sense that "something is wrong with me". Honest reflection on motivation matters, and is part of what the consultation assesses.


BDD is a recognised psychiatric condition in which a patient is preoccupied with a perceived flaw that is mild or invisible to others. Patients with untreated BDD have poor satisfaction rates after cosmetic surgery, may seek repeated procedures, and benefit more from psychological treatment than surgical intervention. UK consultant practice screens for this at consultation. Full discussion in .


Acceptable at any point before surgery. The two-week cooling-off period exists for exactly this reason. Deposits may not be fully refundable depending on how far into the booking process you are, and our terms set this out in advance — but the option to defer or cancel is always available.


Booking a consultation


If your question isn’t answered above, the next step is a consultation with one of our consultant surgeons. Call or use the . We are based at , and consultations run six days a week including Saturdays.


Centre for Surgery · CQC-regulated · GMC surgeons · · · ·


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Centre for Surgery is a CQC-regulated private hospital on London’s Baker Street, delivering plastic and cosmetic surgery GMC-registered specialist surgeons. Our expertise spans facial procedures including and , , for men, and body contouring procedures such as and . Patient safety, excellence and natural-looking results sit at the heart of everything we do.


Centre for Surgery is a CQC-regulated private on London’s iconic , offering plastic and cosmetic surgery led by GMC-registered consultant surgeons.




Marylebone

London

W1U 6RN





Mon – Sat, 9am – 6pm

Saturday consultations available